Month of Shraavana is very significant for devotees of Lord Shiva. They use to carry water in small pots from various rivers and walk bare foot to temples to worship the Lord on Mondays. These devotees are called Kaaudia in Odisha and Kanwaaria elsewhere.
Origin of the Kaaudia culture in Odisha is not very clear. Some people say that it was started by few maarwaris around fifty years ago. But this view is opposed by some others on the ground that Odisha has some famous temples of Lord Shiva like Lord Lingaraj, Lord Lokanath, Lord Gupteswar, Lord Dhabaleswar, Lord Chandrasekhar(Kapilas), Lord Akhandalamani, Lord Chandneswar- and this ritual was performed by devotees of Odisha long before. However a song is picturised in the movie ‘Aei Aama Sansar’(1986) depicting this tradition.
In the last decade number of kaaudias has increased exponentially. Now even women are participating in large numbers. This has created business opportunities for music companies, as they are releasing albums particularly for this event in this month. People selling saffron bermuda, T-shirt (as kaaudias are no longer wearing dhotis) and accessories like bahungi(wooden carrier), pot etc are also doing brisk business.
Astronomical rise in the number of kaaudias is also creating some problems like traffic jam on Sundays, water logging and deposit of waste materials in and around temples etc. It is disheartening to see that young devotees are consuming narcotic substances in the name of Lord Shiva’s Prasad during their journey. They are also using funny and cheap slogans like ‘Ganesh father paar karega’ in place of traditional ‘bol bom’ chant. Music companies are also churning albums with cheap lyrics like ‘aamaku side dia he…(side please…we are kaaudias) in the name of devotional songs. Now it is heard that few rich people are outsourcing this rituals- they are paying willing people to carry water to temples on their behalf. These are not good signs for society. Devotees should maintain sanctity throughout their journey to get their desired wish fulfilled.
